Air-conditioning system



Feb. 9, 1937. E. R. MANDLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 11, 1933 I Ear/e 'RMan l v I WM! Feb. 9, 1037'. l E, R, ANDLE 2,070,051

- AIR CONDITION ING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 11, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ear/e RMcmdle 'ii atentedl Feb. 9, Edd? Zfihtdi AM-UQNDETHQNMG SYS'liEIviE Earle R. Maudie, Seattle, Wash.

Application November lill, 1933, Serial No. 697,643

@laims. (Cl. 62-439) My invention relates to air conditioning, more especially to the cooling of rooms, houses, auditoriums, theatres, schools, factories, and like interior spaces, though the term interior space 5 is used in the general sense of any space, whether enclosed wholly or partly, or not at all, wherein air to be conditioned or cooled is circulated, or into which space air is discharged, this air having been cooled or being. cooled by or during such circulation. 4

The. cooling effect of evaporation ofmoisturc is well known, This efl 'ect has been employed heretofore to cool the air which is circulated within or discharged into an interior space to be conditioned, but because such air of necessity must be humid, because of the vaporized moisture, the lowering of the temperature of such air did not accomplish the cooling effect intended or expected, for moist air, that is, air where the relative humidity is high, is not so readily bearable as dry air, that is, air Where the relative humidity is low, though it be of the same temperature. For any given quantity of moisture in the air, the relative humidity is higher at a lower temperature. Such systems therefore have not been found practicable since, while the air is cooled, the interior space is rendered uncomfortable by reason of the high relative humidity.

Attempts have been made to cool interior spaces by means of mechanical refrigeration. Such systems however, are highly expensive both in installation and in operating cost for moderately cooling 2. room, auditorium, theatre, or factory.

5 It is an object of the present invention to devise an air conditioning system, and the several parts thereof, which can operate through the employment of the principle of cooling by evaporation of moisture without the disadvantages formerly 4o inherent in such systems, and which will operate to cool interior spaces to a. comfortable temperature at a very low cost, and by a medium, water, which is always available. It is also an object to devise such a system which can be installed and operated atlow cost, whereby'it may be within reach of every home owner, as well as operators of theatres, auditoriums, factories an like larger spaces.

It is a further object of my invention to devise 'a system which can be so installed that the cool ing of unit spacescan be controlled as desired,

so that the system is flexible and easily controllable. I a

55 Other objects, and especially such as relate to mechanical or installation details, will be understood as this specification progresses.

My invention. comprises the novel air conditioning system, and the novel parts and arrangement of such parts relative to each other, and 5 the novel method of air conditioning, all as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in this specification, and as will be more particularly pointed out in the claims which terminate the same. m

Figure 1 is a plan view, with parts broken away, of a typical arrangement of the essential parts of the system, and Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a modified sysl5 tem, parts being broken away and other parts being shown diagrammatically.

A typical installation is shown in Figures 1 and 2. A heat transfer unit, such as a waterfilled radiator I, is located Within what may be m termed an exterior conduit 2, to distinguish it from the interior conduit 3, the latter being the conduit by which air is circulated from the room or interior space, and thence back to such a space. Air entering the conduit 2', may, how- 5 ever, be drawn from the interior space, but preferably is drawn from an exterior space, or other space quite separate from the interior space to be cooled. Regardless of its source it is kept separate from the air in the conduit 3 and is discharged to an exterior space, namely, to some space other than that which contains or receives the interior air and which is to be cooled. Thus the inlet 20 to the conduit 2 may extend from outside the house, and the discharge 2! is directed outside the house again, so that the'air passing through the conduit 2 is taken in from the outside and discharged again to the outside, passing through the radiator unit i between the intake and discharge. As a means to accomplish w circulation of the air I may provide a fan 23 secured on a shaft 4, the latter driven by any suitable means (not shown).

the water as it passes through this radiator unit hose connection l2 and by pipe connections is and it, extending to and from a pump it suitably driven from the shaft Q, as by means of the belt 53 and pulley M, the latter being illustrated as mounted upon the same shaft as drives the fans 23 and t3.

Discharging within the exterior conduit 2, in

advance of the radiator unit i, is a spray nozzle 5, controlled by a valve 58, whereby a fog of water droplets may be discharged within the conduit. Any equivalent means, as for example, discharge of water directly upon the unit i, may

be employed. This moisture is picked up by theair passing through the conduit 2, and the heat inthe water in the radiator unit is delivered to this humid air as it passes through the radiator, and causes evaporation of the entrained moisture. The water having given up some of its heat, it is now cooler. Similarly, the air has been cooled, which further cools the water in the radiator unit i. This water is circulated back to the radiator unit M, and as the interior air, free from moisture or at least bearing no more than the natural moisture present, passes through this radiator unit ii, it is cooled prior to discharge at M, and the water in the radiator unit H, which has picked up heat from the interior air, is circulated back to the radiator unit I, there to effect further evaporation of water particles suspended in the humid air in the exterior system, and to be again cooled by such evaporation.

, It will be evident that the result of such a system is to maintain the interior air free from added humidity, and to employ the humid air only in the exterior system, thereby effecting cooling of the circulating interior air by the efl'ect of evaporation in the exterior conduit. However, if the interior air is so dry that it can stand some added moisture, a further drop in temperature may be obtained by means of a second spray nozzle 5| controlled by a valve 52, and discharging into the interior conduit 3. Not only is the interior air cooled in such case by the relatively cool water in the radiator unit H, but it is also cooled by the further evaporation of moisture in the interior air.

While I have shown a water-cooled radiator unit in each conduit, and a pump and water connections, it will be evident that the'heat transfer unit considered as a whole may be of any suitable type, and that heat might be transferred from the interior conduit 3 to the exterior con duit 2 by any suitable means, for instance, purely or in part by conduction through metal. Furthermore, while water would ordinarily be employed as the circulation medium, on account of its universal availability and cheapness, other media might be substituted therefor as the circulating medium-indeed, other media might be employed for discharge from the nozzle 5.

It is indeed not essential that there be an interior conduit as such, and in the system illustrated in Figure 3 there is none. The exterior conduit is the same as before, or may be substantially the same, but instead, 01 delivering water from the primary radiator unit i-by means M, and the air discharged from the interior conof the pump to a single radiator unit ii, and thence back to the radiator unit/i, the pump iii delivers water through the conduit is, whence I by branches it it is delivered to small individual radiator units i i, which may be located in individual rooms. The water from these individual units is discharged by branch pipes i'i back to a pipe i8, whence it discharges into the radiator unit i. The various branches are controlled by suitable valves it, so that any one or more of these units H may be supplied with water, cooling only such rooms as may be required.

Behind each of these units ii is preferably supported a fan 8 driven by an electric motor 60 or the like, whereby air in the room is caused to circulate through the units H, thus picking up heat from the room to be absorbed in the evaporation of water at the radiator unit 8. The circulation of air in the open room thus becomes the equivalent of its circulation through the closed interior conduit 3 of the system first described.

In some regions water is scarce, and it is within the province of my invention to collect and reuse any excess water discharged into the exterior conduit, and in the interior conduit, if water is discharged thereinto. The means to accomplish this are well known, and any suitable means may be employed. It does not matter that the temperature of this water may become elevated somewhat, since it is the drop in temperature caused by evaporation of water which cools the water in the radiator unit i, not the absolute temperature of thewater discharged into the exterior conduit.

What I claim as my'invention is:

1. An air-conditioning system for cooling air in an interior space to a temperature appreciably below the temperature of air in an exterior space, comprising a heat exchange device 'filled with fluid under substantially constant pressure, and including two units, one over which interior space air .passes' and one over which exterior space air passes, and means to supply liquid to the exterior space air inadvance of its passage over its heat' exchange device unit, in quantities not appreciably in excess of that which can be evaporated by heat supplied by the fluid in the exterior space unit, by evaporation of the liquid supplied by said means to cool the fluid in the heat exchange device to a temperature below that of the interior space air, the heat exchange device fluid in turn cooling the interior space air.

2. An air-conditioning system for cooling air in an interior space to a temperature appreciably below the temperature of air in an exterior space, comprising a heat exchange device completely fllled'with liquid and including two units, one over which interior space air passes and one over which 3 3; An air-conditioning system for cooling air in an interior space to a temperature appreciably below the temperature of air in an exterior space, which comprises a heat transfer device filled with liquid under substantially uniform pressure throughout. means to conduct interior space air 7 past a part of said heat transfer device, means to conduct exterior space air past another part of said heat transfer device, means to circulate the contained liquid from one such part of the heat transfer device to the other such part, and means to supply a vaporizable liquid to the exterior of such part past which the exterior space air moves, in quantities not appreciably in excess of that which can be vaporized by the heat of the liquid contained therein, thus by evaporation of such vaporizable liquid to cool such part of the heat transfer device, and by circulation of the cooled liquid therein to cool the interior space part of the heat transfer device.

4. An air-conditioning system for cooling air in an interior space to a temperature appreciably below the temperature of air in an exterior space, comprising an interior air conduit and an exterior air conduit, a water-filled radiator unit in each conduit, means interconnecting said radiator units for circulation of water therebetween, pump means for circulating the water, and means to spray water into said exterior conduit in advance of the radiator unit therein to be carried by the exterior air, hotter than the interior air, over such radiator unit, and by evaporation of the atomized water to cool the water in the radiator unit to a temperature below that of the interior air, which in turn cools the interior air.

5. An air-conditioning system for cooling air in an interior space to a temperature appreciably below the temperature of air in an exterior space, comprising a fluid-filled, constant presure heat transfer device, means to pass relatively warm exterior space air over a part thereof, means to spray a vaporizable liquid into such air in advance of the heat transfer device to be carried thereagainst in atomized form, thereby by evaporation of the atomized liquid to cool the whole, and means to pass interior space air, cooler than the exterior space air, over the remainder of said heat transfer unit, to be further cooled thereby.

EARLE R. MANDLE. 

